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I told you, everytime he puts this forward, the spinners quickly accuse him of saying the IMF. Well ....
Prove I said so, or apologise, Mr Morrison
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Dear Editor,
Your columnist, Mr Dennis Morrison, is once again at his deceptive best, a posture that is unbecoming of him as a civil servant.
On this point, the JLP has written to the head of the civil service, Dr Carlton Davis, complaining that Mr Morrison has been using his columns to preach anti-JLP and pro-PNP Government politics. Incidentally, Dr Davis advised me in writing that he would be reviewing Mr Morrison's articles before publication in the future. Was this done on this occasion?
SHAW. the JLP is not seeking loans from the IMF
Mr Morrison's article 'Ignorance or ploy?' incorrectly and willfully asserts that I said the JLP would be "getting" money from the IMF at low cost to refinance expensive debt. I never said any such thing and Mr Morrison should furnish the proof from Hansard that I said so or he should apologise to me at his earliest opportunity.
I fully expect that Dr Davis will ensure that this is done. This cheap and vulgar politics must stop, as it obscures the important issues that I have raised concerning financing from Multilateral Institutions like the World Bank (WB), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).
For the avoidance of doubt, let me re-state the position that I laid down in Parliament in my Budget presentation.
1. Currently, the Government is pursuing some of the policies that the multilaterals require but at the same time Jamaica is not getting the benefit of low interest loans. They are doing what they say and not getting the benefit of what they offer. This is the worst of both worlds.
2. With Jamaica's high level of debt and debt servicing (among the highest in the world), a rising fiscal deficit, increased taxes and stagnant growth - the JLP believes Jamaica cannot afford to take any option off the table, including this important window of low cost funding.
3. Obviously, the JLP will only accept money from the multilaterals on terms consistent with its overall macro-economic policy.
4. The JLP has had discussions with representatives of multilaterals, and we are satisfied that everything that we have put on the table is possible, but it requires the requisite discipline and political will to accomplish it - characteristics that do not exist among the finance minister or his advisors like Mr Morrison.
5. With regard to Jamaica's inability as a so-called middle-income country to qualify for refinancing loans from multilaterals, that could be used to substitute higher-cost debt, the JLP raised this issue at a recent conference in Washington, DC and received an indication that the policy of the World Bank on the classification of middle-income countries is being reviewed.
6. The Government of Jamaica several years ago received several hundred million dollars in restructuring loans from a consortium of multilaterals following the financial sector collapse in the mid-1990s. This also provides a precedent for reopening discussions with the multilaterals.
7. The JLP is not seeking loans from the IMF as incorrectly asserted by Mr Morrison. And while we await the review of middle-income countries, the JLP intends to seek funding from a consortium of multilaterals for specific projects like the Education Transformation Programme. This is how we will approach the issue, unlike the finance minister's plan to raid NHT and NIS funds for education transformation under the guise of the statutory deduction consolidation plan.
8. One of the reasons why the IDB has had to suspend some of its lending to Jamaica, is because the Government has been unable to provide the necessary matching funds. Here again, their inability to do so is because the high cost of servicing private sector debt is crowding out the Government's ability to take advantage of lower-cost funds from the IDB. It is really quite foolish to advance this as an argument against seeking these funds, and this is why the JLP has put forward a comprehensive debt management plan that will yield budgetary space to allow us to find matching funds in order to access low cost development funds from the IDB and others.
The JLP fully recognises that there will be higher levels of fiscal discipline and rectitude that will be required for Jamaica to access cheaper funds from multilaterals, and unlike this Government, we are prepared to exercise that discipline in the best interest of the economic development of the country. This is an important part of our strategy to grow the economy by 6-10 per cent per year over the medium- to long-term.
We are resolute that we must wrest ourselves from the stranglehold of a high interest rate policy, that robs our country of productive investments and robs our national budget of needed resources.
Neither Dr Omar Davies nor his Government-paid spinners like Mr Morrison will stop the JLP from putting forward credible alternative policies for achieving a better life for we the people of Jamaica, because we just can't go on like this.
Audley Shaw, MP
Opposition spokesman on dinance & the public service
Prove I said so, or apologise, Mr Morrison
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Dear Editor,
Your columnist, Mr Dennis Morrison, is once again at his deceptive best, a posture that is unbecoming of him as a civil servant.
On this point, the JLP has written to the head of the civil service, Dr Carlton Davis, complaining that Mr Morrison has been using his columns to preach anti-JLP and pro-PNP Government politics. Incidentally, Dr Davis advised me in writing that he would be reviewing Mr Morrison's articles before publication in the future. Was this done on this occasion?
SHAW. the JLP is not seeking loans from the IMF Mr Morrison's article 'Ignorance or ploy?' incorrectly and willfully asserts that I said the JLP would be "getting" money from the IMF at low cost to refinance expensive debt. I never said any such thing and Mr Morrison should furnish the proof from Hansard that I said so or he should apologise to me at his earliest opportunity.
I fully expect that Dr Davis will ensure that this is done. This cheap and vulgar politics must stop, as it obscures the important issues that I have raised concerning financing from Multilateral Institutions like the World Bank (WB), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).
For the avoidance of doubt, let me re-state the position that I laid down in Parliament in my Budget presentation.
1. Currently, the Government is pursuing some of the policies that the multilaterals require but at the same time Jamaica is not getting the benefit of low interest loans. They are doing what they say and not getting the benefit of what they offer. This is the worst of both worlds.
2. With Jamaica's high level of debt and debt servicing (among the highest in the world), a rising fiscal deficit, increased taxes and stagnant growth - the JLP believes Jamaica cannot afford to take any option off the table, including this important window of low cost funding.
3. Obviously, the JLP will only accept money from the multilaterals on terms consistent with its overall macro-economic policy.
4. The JLP has had discussions with representatives of multilaterals, and we are satisfied that everything that we have put on the table is possible, but it requires the requisite discipline and political will to accomplish it - characteristics that do not exist among the finance minister or his advisors like Mr Morrison.
5. With regard to Jamaica's inability as a so-called middle-income country to qualify for refinancing loans from multilaterals, that could be used to substitute higher-cost debt, the JLP raised this issue at a recent conference in Washington, DC and received an indication that the policy of the World Bank on the classification of middle-income countries is being reviewed.
6. The Government of Jamaica several years ago received several hundred million dollars in restructuring loans from a consortium of multilaterals following the financial sector collapse in the mid-1990s. This also provides a precedent for reopening discussions with the multilaterals.
7. The JLP is not seeking loans from the IMF as incorrectly asserted by Mr Morrison. And while we await the review of middle-income countries, the JLP intends to seek funding from a consortium of multilaterals for specific projects like the Education Transformation Programme. This is how we will approach the issue, unlike the finance minister's plan to raid NHT and NIS funds for education transformation under the guise of the statutory deduction consolidation plan.
8. One of the reasons why the IDB has had to suspend some of its lending to Jamaica, is because the Government has been unable to provide the necessary matching funds. Here again, their inability to do so is because the high cost of servicing private sector debt is crowding out the Government's ability to take advantage of lower-cost funds from the IDB. It is really quite foolish to advance this as an argument against seeking these funds, and this is why the JLP has put forward a comprehensive debt management plan that will yield budgetary space to allow us to find matching funds in order to access low cost development funds from the IDB and others.
The JLP fully recognises that there will be higher levels of fiscal discipline and rectitude that will be required for Jamaica to access cheaper funds from multilaterals, and unlike this Government, we are prepared to exercise that discipline in the best interest of the economic development of the country. This is an important part of our strategy to grow the economy by 6-10 per cent per year over the medium- to long-term.
We are resolute that we must wrest ourselves from the stranglehold of a high interest rate policy, that robs our country of productive investments and robs our national budget of needed resources.
Neither Dr Omar Davies nor his Government-paid spinners like Mr Morrison will stop the JLP from putting forward credible alternative policies for achieving a better life for we the people of Jamaica, because we just can't go on like this.
Audley Shaw, MP
Opposition spokesman on dinance & the public service